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In a world where frequent flyer programs are shifting to revenue-based systems and constant devaluation of programs and award redemptions, any time an airline offers a reduction in mileage awards, it is a welcome bonus. AA has released an update of their Reduced Mileage Awards. The good news is that with the promotion, you can save between 1,000 and 7,500 miles on awards depending on the route chosen.

The current promo is for flights through March 2017, although bookings have to be made by January 31, 2017. The offer applies to various airports in the US and Canada during the period of the promotion and is eligible for flights to and from these airports. The offer is on redemption for MilesSAAver tickets, and the discounts are the same regardless of the class of booking.

The most significant part of this promo to remember is you cannot book these awards online; you must call.

Who Can Benefit

Starting March the 22, 2017, flights that are less than 500 miles will now require 7,500 miles instead of 12,500 miles for a one-way trip. These routes are not eligible for the 3,750 miles discount promotion; however, they are eligible for the 1,000 miles discount which comes with certain cards.

Airports Each Month

The list of airports which the promotion applies to every month is substantial and covers significant parts of the US. The highlights for December include the following destinations:

Monterey, CA (MRY)

Fort Myers, FL (RSW)

Flagstaff, AZ (FLG)

Savannah, GA (SAV)

Brownsville, TX (BRO)

Durango, CO (DRO)

Come January, the list is no less impressive nor extensive, with some of the highlights of the 171 available destinations including:

Austin, TX (AUS)

Vail, CO (EGE)

San Diego, CA (SAN)

Jackson Hole, WY (JAC)

Santa Barbara, CA (SBA)

Eugene, OR (EUG)

Charleston, SC (CHS)

Houston, TX (IAH)

Tucson, AZ (TUS)

For February, the selection gets a little smaller with only 155 airports, never the less there are still some impressive destinations included, with the highlights being the following:

Santa Barbara, CA (SBA)

San Diego, CA (SAN)

San Francisco, CA (SFO)

Houston, TX (IAH)

West Palm Beach, FL (PBI)

Denver, CO (DEN)

Charleston, SC (CHS)

Vail, CO (EGE)

Austin, TX (AUS)

Moving on into spring time, American is obviously reducing the amount of award space and destinations available. Although there is still an impressive list of options available from the 96 award airports. Some of the top destinations for March include:

Santa Barbara, CA (SBA)

Key West, FL (EYW)

Myrtle Beach, SC (MYR)

Denver, CO (DEN)

Vail, CO (EGE)

Jackson Hole, WY (JAC)

Bangor, ME (BGO)

The Bottom Line

If you have some travel plans for destinations around the US in the next 4 months, this could be a great offer for you, the only drawback being whether you have one of the qualifying cards or not. Although if you have enough travel plans, this might be a good time to signup for one of those cards.

AA Reduced Mileage on Awards from December to March 2017

5 (100%) 5 votes

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Comments

Looks like they have the need to fill the aircrafts during the low travel season after New Years… With the inconvenience of having to call their reservation line and hold for a long time it’s not all that great a deal.

This is an ongoing promotion that AA updates every few months and has been around for quite some time — they just don’t talk much about it. It would be easy enough to integrate with Citi’s systems I’d think to identify who has a card and simply provide the discount, but then what fun is there in that :-/

I can’t believe that you have to call to take advantage of this. That could be a real pain. I had to call in for a ticket when using a voucher and it was just crazy. Hopefully AA will upgrade their IT systems soon.

I’m glad to see American is continuing to improve their offerings instead of just cutting back like everyone else is. If only they offered a direct flight from Shanghai to Seattle, then I would probably fly only with them.

You always need to call AA to book these lower mileage flights, since they are a promotion offered only through Citibank credit cards. They run these promotions about every three months. The good thing is they are no capacity controls on these promotions – since I have been able to book these every (3) time.

Trying to remember all these out there discounts are a pain. There should be a site that you could enter the cities and dates and it would tell you how many miles from all airlines and what discounts are available for a range of dates. That would save tons of time and aggravation.

This is a terrific list, and includes a couple of potential destinations or departure cities for me. It is a significant savings in points, and worthy of taking advantage of. It is unfortunate that one must phone in for this promo, though. One more way that a passenger has to jump through hoops to get full benefit of the credit card features.

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